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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622914">Matchmaker</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacKyleMore/pseuds/MacKyleMore'>MacKyleMore</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Franz is here because I need Plot Devices, High School AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, T for mild cursing, Valentine's Day</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:41:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,161</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622914</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacKyleMore/pseuds/MacKyleMore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Up until now he would have believed him if he said he has never loved past flings, but the red creeping its way onto Kyle's face gives him new ideas.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Forde/Kyle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lock Up and Throw Away the Key</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Was gonna wait a couple more days to post this but! I need a distraction from how bad I wanna Off Myself rn lol</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The laugh that Forde lets out is only partially to reassure Franz that this is all OK, and that he knows what he's talking about.</p><p>The remaining reason is from outright nervousness.</p><p>"Seriously, what should I do?"</p><p>School is over for the day. (Finally) And Franz badgering him as they walk out through the halls to the parking lot is, for the first time, frustrating him.</p><p>"I told you. I'm not the most well-rounded..." And he means it, where he feels like other people might get annoyed. He's never went out of his way to make trouble for his brother. That kind of treatment is reserved for someone else.</p><p>He would love to help, but the best way for him to do that is point Franz in any direction other than himself.</p><p>"You could at least give me ideas..."</p><p>Walking, thinking that he might be able to come up with something, a better solution presents itself.</p><p>"Hey," He starts after he habitually glances at Kyle's locker as they pass. "Kyle's still here. Why don't you ask him instead?"</p><p>Franz looks a great deal conflicted-- like asking him would be rude or bothersome. But his personal problems are too much for him, so he caves and approaches.</p><p>"Excuse me."</p><p>Forde scoffs at Franz's polite attitude. It is more than unnecessary, and if Kyle was as tempermental with Franz as much as he was with Forde, he knows Kyle would find the mannerisms just as funny as he did.</p><p>"What is it?" He asks, turning away from the padlock he just shut over his locker. Since freshman year, his combination lock had been broken. Despite persistent efforts from him to staff for a new one or just to get a janitor to fix it or something, nothing was ever done.</p><p>So he always just had to rely on that padlock.</p><p>Which wouldn't be a bad thing... Kyle keeps track of his keys. Has never accidentally locked them in the locker itself.</p><p>Except for the issue of upperclassmen who would feel the need to twist the physical lock-- jamming it and blocking access to his materials.</p><p>He had thought by senior year it would let up, but the attackers still used him as a target, and-- although not occurring as much as back then-- he still found himself as much as 15 minutes late to some classes because of it.</p><p>"Why does Mr. Orson always yell at me when I'm late to homeroom...?" Kyle grumbled at lunch one day. "He knows my locker doesn't open. He's even tried the code himself-- it just gets stuck."</p><p>All Forde can do is laugh, and keep the secret that he's the guilty party most of the time. </p><p>Kyle still hasn't realized-- but by now he should see that if he's in a sour enough mood to lash out or just turn Forde's good days into bad, and it's on THOSE days that his locker is turned? Well, he only has himself to blame.</p><p>Forde shakes his head to get the memories out of his head to focus back on the conversation in front of him. It has been awhile since he's turned the dial... maybe later.</p><p>"Do you need something?" Kyle reiterates when Franz frantically searches for a way to ask but can only stammer with words.</p><p>"He likes some girl."</p><p>Kyle looks shockingly from Franz to Forde, back over to Franz again. He thought that maybe Forde's <em>'help'</em> was a joke, But Franz isn't denying anything.</p><p>"Do you?" He offers, not even giving Forde the benefit of the doubt. </p><p>Franz nods. "And I don't know what to do..."</p><p>Freshmen and their need to feel like they have to DO something for Valentine's day just because the school monopolizes off of kids with dances and flowers to send...</p><p>Kyle looks like a storm is clouding in his brain, and he desperately looks to Forde for something to respond with. </p><p><em>He's</em> your<em> brother.</em></p><p>He can almost hear it telepathically.</p><p>
  <em>And this is revenge for always being so thoughtful towards him and not me. If I came to you with the same problem, I know you'd laugh in my face.</em>
</p><p>He knows Kyle won't understand what he's thinking. It's too long an idea. So all he can do is taunt with a grin and hope that it at least conveys the energy.</p><p>"Listen... I don't think I'm really the right person to ask."</p><p>"But..." Franz looks like he's getting more irritated by the minute. Forde and Kyle alike are in awe that someone like him is letting his feelings for someone potentially get in the way of his academics. "You've at least had a girlfriend before!"</p><p>Forde, for a moment, feels as if a wound has opened in his chest. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other beneath him. It <em>was</em> the reason he had pointed Franz towards Kyle in the first place. But to hear it be said aloud...</p><p>No. He only feels this tightness because he's jealous that his little brother doesn't see him as advice-worthy anymore.</p><p>Yeah. That's gotta be it.</p><p>"S-so? Before. I had a girlfriend <em>before</em>. That was... what... three years ago?"</p><p>"That's more experience than me." Forde tries, but his voice and mood have both fallen. He isn't sure if either even heard him.</p><p>"I don't want to ask, I don't want to inconvenience you... but I have no one else to turn to!"</p><p>"I..." Kyle's looking just as uncomfortable as the love-struck Franz, and just as uncomfortable as whatever the hell was currently going on with Forde. (Something made him go from 100 to nothing, and what that was, <em>Kyle</em> isn't sure.) "I can try. But don't count on anything from me. Just because I dated in the past doesn't mean I had any real feelings for any one of them..."</p><p>Kyle's blushing, Forde dully notes. Three years... has it been that long already? Up until now he would have believed him if he said he has never loved past flings, but the red creeping its way onto Kyle's face gives him new ideas.</p><p>
  <em>Has Kyle been in love all this time?</em>
</p><p>"I don't understand." Franz sighs.</p><p><em>Me neither.</em> </p><p>"That's because you're a kid. You feel pressured to get a girlfriend because your family and friends are doing it. Anything you think you're feeling is just... obligation."</p><p>"Let's get going..."</p><p>"No!" Franz whips his head back to look at Forde. "You're the one that told me to ask him! And you wouldn't help, so I'm going to listen to Kyle."</p><p>"..." Forde walks past them. "It's cold this time of year... so I'm gonna go start the car. Don't be too long."</p><p> </p><p><br/>The next morning, Kyle is seven minutes late to homeroom.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Open Letter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Wednesday, two days after Franz felt the need to do something about his crush, Forde awakens to the buzzing of a cell phone.</p><p>Groaning, he reaches for his to check. </p><p>And finds no new messages.</p><p>So, to make the strain worth something, he at least takes note of what time it is:</p><p>A little before 5:30 in the morning.</p><p>It's when he goes to set it back down on his bedside table, passing it off as sleep-induced delirium and nothing more, that he hears the sound again.</p><p>This time, he's conscious enough to understand that it hadn't come from his phone; it was Franz's phone that went off in the other room.</p><p>
  <em>How thin are these walls.</em>
</p><p>He lays his head back, hoping to get a couple more hours of sleep.</p><p>The hollow drag of a phone vibrating continues.</p><p>Who is texting him at this hour?</p><p>He reaches for his phone a second time, intending to send Franz a quick message asking what he was doing that needs so much attention <em>now.</em> After he opens the text app, his thumb hovers over Franz's contact, but his eyes read the name directly under it. </p><p>The names are in order from most recent, and apart from the reminder he had gotten from Franz yesterday telling him to come down and eat dinner, Kyle is the last one he has contacted.</p><p>It hits him, that it is probably Kyle who is texting Franz right now.</p><p>Franz was pursuing this despite Forde's clear discomfort...</p><p>Forde groans, wanting to go back to sleep but knowing he has to settle something quick.</p><p>He ends up pressing the conversation between Kyle and himself instead.</p><p>'<strong>you can do what you want, but pls dont try and make him sad for liking someone. just remember that you were in the same place as him at one point...dont tell him things that will turn him away from her. i want him to be happy.</strong><em>'</em></p><p>He's so tired that he doesn't consider the message, and sends it without any context.</p><p>
  <strong> 'What? Why are you awake?'</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>'</strong>
  <strong>franz's phone keeps buzzing. its keeping me up. someone's texting him. and i think that person is u.'</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>'Yes, because SOMEONE told him to ask me for my thoughts on something I'm not good with. But like you said, we want him to be happy. So I'm trying, unlike you.'</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>You at least have had a girlfriend. </em>
</p><p>The thought replays in his head again, and he bites the inside of his cheek.</p><p>
  <strong>'well could u wait until its not 5 30 in the morning?'</strong>
</p><p>At this, he shuts his phone off and puts it back so the tone doesn't keep him up any longer.</p><p>Whether or not Kyle has stopped texting Franz entirely for now or just warned him to turn off his ringer, he doesn't hear the sound anymore; so Forde falls back to sleep.</p><p>Because of this reason, he doesn't read the handful of texts he received afterward until about an hour and 45 minutes later, when he needs to get ready for school.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>'Well, that's because even after it ended, I felt no heartbreak or anything you should feel after a breakup. If anything, it was a relief. I can go as far as to say it hurts more in the situation I'm in now than anything back then. I'm not you though, so if you really like her for who she is, you should go for it...'</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>'That'</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>'That wasn't meant for you.'</strong>
</p><p>                                                                     Sent 5:43 AM.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Not My Cup of Tea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today Forde doesn't have the energy to get anything to eat for lunch, so he sits at his usual spot; the bar running along the wall outlooking the courtyard. </p><p>The other day it was cold enough to freeze the water into icicles coming from the gutter at his house, but the shifts of February weather, unable to decide if it wants to bring springtime early; cast enough warmth for the few groups of people eating outside to enjoy it.</p><p>Eventually, he turns his attention from the sprouting buds on the other side of the window to the chair next to him being pulled out.</p><p>Salad. Kyle always gets salad. Today, like every other one, <em>Kyle has a salad.</em></p><p>"It's hard to fuck up leaves." He says one day when Forde asks him how he can eat the same thing every day. "But even then, they drown it in too much dressing..." And then he just picks at it with a fork, trying to find any part of it that can be considered edible. No one would want to eat school lunches if there were better things around, but sometimes beggars can't be choosers.</p><p>Forde doesn't strike up any sort of conversation, mainly because he is kind of alarmed Kyle didn't try to avoid him today. (Not that he would have had any reason to-- everything on his mind is just that, on <em>his</em> mind. Not anyone else's.)</p><p>"What's wrong with you?" Kyle says it like the salad in front of him: the same as always. The same tone of voice; cold. Like he's looking down on him.</p><p>The same. The same hint that always goes unnoticed to Forde. The hint of why Kyle <em>even asks in the first place.</em></p><p>"Nothing!"</p><p>"Then why aren't you eating anything?"</p><p>"I'm not hungry...?"</p><p>Kyle's looking at him; too intently, and it's making him uncomfortable. "Are you saying or asking?"</p><p>"I'm <em>saying</em> I'm not hungry, and I'm <em>asking</em> you to not question my habits with so much <em>disapproval."</em></p><p>Kyle frowns, and if he's truthfully displeased with that answer, he doesn't show it, because the corners of his mouth twisting down are <em>obviously</em> forced to prove some sort of point.</p><p>"Here."</p><p>Forde doesn't register the single word right away, because he has turned to look outside again. Looking at Kyle for too long wasn't good for the feeling that stirred up in his stomach; and it wasn't good for the swelling in his chest, either.</p><p>It's not until he feels the cold of a plastic bottle slide across the table and hit him in the elbow that he processes the <em>'here.'</em></p><p>"Why?" He picks it up, inspecting the label. It's just iced tea. </p><p>"If you're not going to eat, at least drink something."</p><p>It's Forde's turn to frown this time. "Don't you want it?"</p><p>"I mean, yeah... I payed extra for it instead of a carton of milk. But you're a dumbass and probably haven't had any breakfast either, since you never wake up early enough to make anything."</p><p><em>I woke up early enough today.</em> He wants to bite back, focusing the blame on the obvious person at fault. But he keeps it to himself, remembering the cryptic text that was most likely meant for Franz instead of him.</p><p>It's happened before, Kyle texting one when he had meant to text the other. Both start with the same letter, both have the same number of characters. It's easy to screw up something like that, but this time he felt like if he addressed it, Kyle would start acting funny.</p><p>As if the words on the screen displayed the inner workings of Kyle more than anything he had ever said to him aloud.</p><p> And Forde knew those weren't for him to see.</p><p>"Well uh... Sugar Water isn't exactly a balanced diet..." Forde extends the bottle back to Kyle's direction, who ignores the gesture.</p><p>"It's better than no diet at all."</p><p>Giving up, he twists the cap open, hoping the sweetness will at least even-out the bitter feeling in his head. Sugar may waken up your blood and brain a bit, but he doesn't count on its effects working this time.</p><p>"What's wrong?" Kyle asks again, more sincerely this time around.</p><p>Kyle's persistence makes him wish he hadn't taken his drink. The topic was long over, was what he had thought. What he had wished.</p><p><em>He only handed me this so I owed him some sort of explanation.</em> He thinks, and the sweetness it left in his mouth suddenly isn't so sweet anymore.</p><p>"I told you. Nothing."</p><p>He's not looking at Kyle, but at the ingredients label. Looking at the scratches on the table in front of him. The sun peering through the leaves on trees outside.</p><p>But he still feels eyes bore into his head.</p><p>"You're jealous of your brother."</p><p>His grip tightens around the tea, and then is immediatly loosened when he remembers again who gave it to him.</p><p>"What? I'm not jealous."</p><p><em>Of my brother. </em>He finds himself thinking, unable to say those last few words.</p><p>"I think you are." He hears one of Kyle's mocking smiles in his tone. Simultaneously, he broods over the fact that even though he won't look his direction, Forde can still <em>see</em> it. Mentally. Clear as day. The same part of Kyle that is trying to compete for the top. The same eyes that think they are onto something.</p><p>But more times than not, Kyle is wrong.</p><p>And this time as well, he couldn't be more mistaken.</p><p>"Because I thought about it." Kyle presses forward when Forde is too focused on how Kyle looks right now. No-- <em>probably</em> looks right now. Because as established, <em>he is afraid to look</em>. "And you only started acting weird when Franz asked me to help him the other day."</p><p>"...That's not it. And I'll prove it, because Franz said today that tomorrow he's asking her out. Tomorrow still leaves her over a day to think about it, and if she says yes, which I think she will; someone will have to drive them to their little date-spot on Saturday. That will be me, <em>and I'll do it without any problems."</em></p><p>"He's really going to do it for Saturday? On February 14th itself?" There is no sign in Kyle's actions that tell Forde this is news to him. Franz has probably already told him... which would make sense, considering it has been their topic of conversation these past few days.</p><p>"That's what he says..."</p><p>"Are you just gonna wait for them? I feel like it wouldn't be long enough to go back home and pick them up when they're done... but it also wouldn't be short enough to sit and watch."</p><p>"I don't feel like wasting my gas money."</p><p>"Ah, so you <em>are</em> going to be the over-protective brother?"</p><p><em>"No.</em> I will wait in the car. Take a nap. Maybe stop in some place nearby if I get bored."</p><p>"I could come along." At this, Forde almost feels the blood in his veins have frozen. "So you wouldn't have to be such a third wheel."</p><p>"I-I'm <em>not.</em> Because I'm not going to stalk him like you suggest. <em>He</em> asked <em>me</em> if I could take him."</p><p>"...Fine. But then can I come to at least see it through myself? If he totally blows it, then I'll feel kinda guilty."</p><p>"So <em>you</em> want to stalk him?"</p><p>"If <em>that's</em> how you see it, whatever."</p><p>"Fine. Do what you want, but first she has to say yes."</p><p>"Alright. If she says yes, I can come too?"</p><p>Forde sighs, exasperated. "If you really want. You coming to my place first or do you want me to pick you up?"</p><p>"...Pick me up, but make sure you do it before you get his date. I'd feel weird if I got into a car she's already sitting in."</p><p>He has a good point. That would be hard to explain.</p><p>Someone would get the wrong idea if they did that.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. True Colors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>'she told him yes, but i get the idea that franz has already told you that'</strong>
</p><p>Friday night, this message is sent to Kyle. It is a sort of reminder. It might as well had said '<em>Make sure you're ready tomorrow.'</em></p><p>Tomorrow arrives, like it will for the rest of the universe's existence, and Kyle is ready and out his front door before he can even make it up his driveway.</p><p>Forde is at least happy that Kyle lives closer than Franz's date. He didn't want to go out of the way if he didn't have to. </p><p>He clings onto that thought and any others-- trying to distract his mind from how Kyle looks right now. What he's wearing looks better on him than what Franz spent so long trying to dress himself in, and it wasn't like he just threw on whatever he could find.</p><p>Desperatly driving his attention anywhere else, he looks in the rear-view mirror when they reach her house and wait for her to come out. Franz is sitting with his hands in his lap, fidgety. </p><p><em>He'll be fine</em>, Forde thinks.</p><p>But he isn't sure if he can say the same for himself.</p><p>The ride to the restaurant Franz picked out is tantalisingly awkward. He sees now that he owes Kyle so much for coming along, because sitting alone in the front while his brother and his crush flirt dryly with one another in the back makes him feel like he wants to smash his head on a board.</p><p>Kyle makes him feel on edge at times, yes; but it's nothing in comparison to watching your own brother try and fill silence that would otherwise have been at least <em>sort</em> of comfortable.</p><p>This is probably what it feels like for parents to chaperone their kids. He thinks, and laughs at the thought. </p><p>"What are you going to do in the meantime?" Franz asks when the door is opened and he steps out of the vehicle.</p><p>"We'll figure something out." Forde reassures, and next, under his breath so Franz can hear but his new girlfriend can't. "<em>Good luck." </em></p><p>Franz, blushing, takes his attention from his brother and stares at Kyle. "You too." He says, implying that Kyle will need it if he has to spend the next few hours stuck with Forde who has teased him too much about his date.</p><p>That's at least how Forde understands it.</p><p>The door is shut behind them, and the air pressure the action squeezes together makes his ears ring. </p><p>The silence that settles between them doesn't last. "How can he talk about me like that...? <em>I'm right here</em>. If anyone needs luck, it's <em>me.</em> You're the bad omen here."</p><p>Forde folds his arms in front of him, leaning on the steering wheel.</p><p>He does it without thinking, and the weight of his upper body sounds the horn.</p><p>He jumps off immediatly, seeing through the window of the place Franz has just entered that he turns back at the sound. He's gonna yell at him later for that. It obviously came from <em>his</em> car.</p><p>Kyle bursts out laughing in the passenger seat.</p><p>Forde wants to retaliate, but the sight is so rare that he just <em>stares.</em> Kyle never laughs. He'll snicker and scoff and just make all-around fun of Forde, but hardly does he laugh so hard he has to cover his face and grab his stomach.</p><p>If Forde hadn't already reached the conclusion that the pangs of jealousy and irritation he got were nothing short of actually just being in love, it would have been right then and there that it would have become apparent.</p><p>"He's gonna kill you!" Inbetween breaths, Kyle warns him. He too is watching Franz's anger even through the walls of the building and the car. Well, <em>Forde's</em> not watching <em>that</em> anymore, but he gets the idea.</p><p>"...It was an accident."</p><p>"No it was <em>not."</em> He's starting to put a stop to his amused outburst. "Because you're mad at him. You're jealous. I know you are."</p><p>And like that, the laughter is gone, and he's attacking Forde again like always.</p><p>Forde thinks that he should be upset; with the joy lasting such a short amount of time. It wasn't long enough to watch... <em>to take in.</em></p><p>But he can't be, because this emotionally secluded Kyle was the Kyle he had fallen in love with to begin with. </p><p>"...How do you figure that?" Is all Forde can ask.</p><p>"Look at you. You look like an abandoned puppy. Your baby brother is getting more action than you ever had. And it's eating. You. <em>Alive."</em></p><p>With emphasis on each word, Kyle leans over the console ever so slightly. He doesn't go as far as to cross the middle, though.</p><p>"<em>Action</em>?" Forde repeats with disgust.</p><p>Kyle's face gets ever-so-slighty darker, and Forde knows he would have missed it if he wasn't always so attentive to things like colors and how to mix them. Wasn't so attentive to things like <em>Kyle</em>.</p><p>"...Y-you know what I meant."</p><p>"No, I don't. <em>You're disgusting</em>. He's just a kid! Get out of my car. You're so <em>gross.</em> Ugh."</p><p>Kyle doesn't take the threat seriously. "Shut up! You know I didn't mean it like <em>that..."</em></p><p>"I wouldn't be so sure. You can be pretty screwed up. I mean... if I didn't know better, I'd think you're the one with a date instead of my brother. He's so young he doesn't know what looks good on him yet. Hell, his voice is higher than his date's! You on the other hand... you look like you're about to leave at any minute and meet up with a <em>secret hook-up."</em></p><p>At this, the color draining from Kyle's face would have been noticed by <em>anyone.</em></p><p>The faux-leather jacket he wears is brown. The color suits him, like everything else he owns and wears. Forde knows this because one look at the unruly shade of green in his hair tells him that if he experimented with anything out of the realm of <em>'earth tones',</em> the contrast would overshadow the rest of his features. Which, unlike the oversaturated green that looks like it was dyed directly from a RGB monitor; are <em>actually rather attractive.</em></p><p>Forde knows. His eye for design is too well. In class, the only complaint he really gets from his Painting teacher is always the same:</p><p>'<em>Darken your darks and lighten your lights.'</em></p><p>But he knows she's digging deep just to find something to critique him on. There's always room for improvement with anyone.</p><p>But he hates this, because when he's assigned to paint a landscape and it has trees and grass and bushes, the color green HAS to be there. And to him, very few things go with it if it's too bright.</p><p>He thinks working around it is hard. Blue skylines reflecting off the water in his work end up muddy because he's afraid of throwing it off balance. Red apples can't be Pink Lady genus, because then if he had to paint <em>that</em> the fruit would stick out too much against the rest, blinding him in turn.</p><p>But Kyle? Kyle works around this everyday. And always looks good.</p><p>Kyle hasn't recovered yet from Forde's last statement. His face, undecided if it wants to take hues of maroon like dirt after a rain shower or pale like the dust in a desert, is everchanging. Under the cuffs of his jacket, rolled up to his elbows because it has been getting warmer by the day, the material tightens over the muscle. His eyes, usually so sharp and menacing, are filled with shock.</p><p> <em>Kyle is tense.</em></p><p>"...I look like I always do." He says it quietly but not without embarrassment laced inside.</p><p>Forde realizes what he said, and how Kyle has just interpreted it.</p><p>'<em>I know</em>.' The words are on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows them before they are allowed out. '<em>Because you look good </em>every<em> day</em>.'</p><p>"Nope." A cheap approach, turning his thoughts into jives. "You're going to leave. You have a date, don't you? I won't keep you any longer, so have fun. And <em>good luck</em>." He's always done this, though. It's all he can do to hide the strong affection he hides deep inside.</p><p>"I said- ...<em>Ugh."</em> Kyle hides his face in his hands. "Just <em>shut up</em>. I need luck, maybe. But not <em>from</em> you-- I need it <em>because</em> of you."</p><p>"You didn't <em>have</em> to come." Forde had forgotten why they were here in the first place.</p><p>"I told you I wanted to!" His hands are still covering the lower half of his face, but his eyes are now glaring at him and if looks could kill this would have been one that pulled the trigger.</p><p>"Then go inside and hide behind a menu for a partition."</p><p>Because after all, Kyle was here to watch the events of Franz and his date unfold.</p><p>"...You're starting to piss me off."</p><p>"Same to you. You saw the way Franz talked to me back there. Your mean nature is rubbing off on him, <em>and I don't like it.</em>"</p><p>Forde finds an index finger pointed at him. "Ha! I told you that you were jealous."</p><p>"You're not even making sense! Get out of my car!" This time, <em>he kind of means it.</em></p><p>"Where do you suspect I go!?"</p><p>"Across the parking lot, where you meet up with your ex-girlfriend who you've been in love with for three years now. It'll be all the more meaningful when she confesses she's <em>felt the same way all along</em>. A story isn't a good one unless there's conflict."</p><p><em>"I thought I told you people I've never-</em>- ...Wait." And Forde can see the dawning on Kyle's face.</p><p>He's scared to death, because he gets the feeling that Kyle has just read every corner of his head; front to back, cover to end.</p><p>"You're not jealous of <em>Franz."</em> He dares to say it...</p><p>And Forde doesn't want to hear the rest--</p><p>"You're jealous of <em>me."</em></p><p>He wants to die. Kyle knows. He knows how he feels. And right now he's stuck in a car with him for God knows how much longer. The tension that will arise will be one that is able to be cut through with a knife.</p><p>"You shouldn't be jealous of me. I told you, I've never loved anyone I've dated. I'm about at the same place you are."</p><p>And once again-- Kyle is wrong.</p><p><em>Idiot.</em> </p><p>He's <em>so</em> close. </p><p>And he still thinks that he's jealous over the fact that Forde has never had a <em>mutual</em> feeling of romance before. To Kyle, this is all just a battlefield of who can come out on top.</p><p>Good. This is... <em>okay.</em></p><p>He can change the subject. If this goes on much longer Kyle will, for certain this time, understand that Forde doesn't want just anything, Forde wants <em>Kyle</em>.</p><p>"Okay. Okay." He waves a hand in the air, like it could disperse the thoughts and words that were just exchanged into mere particals that could never be put back together. "Fine. Whatever you say. But if you're so <em>inexperienced,</em> what the hell did you spend so much time telling Franz? How can you give him advice and feel like he's going to get anything <em>from</em> that when <em>you've</em> never even <em>been in love?"</em></p><p>"I never said I wasn't... I've just never..." Kyle's getting so frustrated he can't even form sentences..."Well if you really <em>must</em> know, it all ended up being less advice and more just over-all <em>feelings."</em></p><p>"But I still don't understand how you can sympathize with him about his <em>'feelings'</em> if you don't feel anything yourself."</p><p>"Because it wasn't<em> his</em> feelings we ended up talking about!" Fuming, Kyle says more than he wants to.</p><p>Hearing that was painful.</p><p><em>Right.</em> Kyle is in love with someone. <em>He knew this,</em> could read it in his actions and the way he avoids any kind of question regarding it. </p><p>Forde had thought that it was an ex. But Kyle seems hell-bent on denying that.</p><p>That just leaves more room for uncertainty.</p><p>The question of who Kyle has, for as long as Forde has known him, seemed to be hiding feelings for; is left in the air.</p><p>"...I'm hungry." It's the best he can come up with.</p><p>Kyle looks relieved when Forde says this, probably because he doesn't want to elaborate on his feelings.</p><p>"I mean... this is a strip-mall. There <em>are</em> other places to eat."</p><p>"Hmm..." Pondering for a moment, he decides to get out and walk towards a different restaurant two shops down from where Franz is probably having a better time than he is.</p><p>The air outside is nice, and even knowing that he heard the other side of the car-door slam shut tells him Kyle plans on joining him, he is at least breathing a new calm.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Fight Like an Old Married Couple</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's my stupid fic and I get to choose the months they are born because canon doesn't exist!!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This place isn't a chain, and not exactly a hotspot for couples on Valentine's day to eat at. Apart from a pair of elderly people on a date, Forde could even say that it was empty.</p><p>The two probably came here for fun rather than good food. Maybe people that old love each other enough to not care about anything else. He wishes <em>he</em> could enjoy a meal and good company.</p><p>Sitting down to order, It's a toss up between french toast and a cranberry chicken salad sandwhich. Forde can't decide, so when the waiter asks if they want anything to drink he skips the question for the time being.</p><p>"Do you still have breakfast?"</p><p>"We do."</p><p>He hears muffled laughter from behind the menu Kyle flips in front of his face. </p><p>"I'll have orange juice, then."</p><p>She jots it down, and turns to ask the same thing to Kyle.</p><p>"Just coffee, please."</p><p>"Cream? Sugar?"</p><p>"Black."</p><p>"Okay. Are you ready to order?"</p><p>Kyle looks his way as if to say <em>he</em> was, but wasn't sure about Forde.</p><p>"Yes, I'll have the french toast." Forde decides.</p><p>Kyle hides another laugh, <em>again</em>. </p><p>"And uh, for me... Eggs and bacon. Sunny-side up." </p><p>The note is taken, and she walks away after telling them it will be out shortly.</p><p><em>"Do you still have breakfast</em>?" Kyle mocks, idly tapping the table as he leans on it. This is what he laughed at before, but as far as Forde could tell there was nothing funny about it.</p><p>"What's wrong with that?"</p><p>"It's not even 11 o' clock yet. No shit they have breakfast."</p><p>Forde shakes his head in disbelief. How can he go so far as to say he is in <em>love</em> with this asshole?</p><p>"<em>'I'll have the orange juice. I'll have the french toast</em>.' You sound ridiculous." </p><p>"What did I do wrong <em>then?"</em></p><p>"Too polite. It's not you. Deny it all you want, but you <em>are</em> acting strangely. I told you we're on the same level of in-experience. It's not like Franz can see us here, so take the time to let your gaurd down."</p><p>The thing Kyle refers to as <em>'politeness'</em> is really just a feeble attempt at making sure the staff nor the couple in a far-off booth didn't get the wrong idea about what, to an outsider, probably looks like a date. It hadn't worked, because the looks he got when Kyle laughed at him because his '<em>way of ordering</em>' was funny, THAT definetly gave the waitress the wrong idea.</p><p>They are brought their juice and coffee, and when Kyle takes a sip a ring is left on the table. Forde keeps his eye on it, and then it is skewed when the cup is placed unaligned with where it was before; but within enough proximity to hit part of the circle staining the wood.</p><p>"You're no better than me. Black coffee? Nobody actually <em>likes</em> that stuff. There's no one here to impress with the fact that you have enough guts to drink something so bitter. '<em>Why don't you let your gaurd down</em>?'"</p><p>The face Kyle makes isn't just a reaction, but also an involuntary response to the bitterness he has just consumed. </p><p>Kyle's never liked things to be too tart. The tea he had given him the other day was sweet tea. Which, is something of a last resort for Forde. Green or black or just flavored with lemon or raspberry? Those were all fine because they were never added with too much sugar. Sweet tea on tge other hand is as you would expect, <em>too sweet.</em></p><p>He is satisfied with himself, knowing Kyle really <em>is</em> fragile enough to drink a cup of sour coffee just out of spite... or perhaps try and make himself look <em>'cool.'</em> He doesn't mention it to him past this, because then maybe he will admit defeat. And if he admits defeat, Forde won't get to see the face he makes everytime he goes to drink from it.</p><p>"Well <em>I</em> like it."</p><p><em>Suuure</em> you do. Forde thinks to himself.</p><p>Kyle's order is easier, so it comes out first. Forde waits, and sees another thing that he can pick apart about Kyle's life choices. </p><p>"Okay, but seriously. Sunny side-up IS disgusting. You might as well just crack an egg over your mouth and eat it raw." He knows though that there is no attempt to one-up anyone here or anything-- <em>Kyle just actually likes his eggs like this.</em></p><p>"Pfft. How do <em>you</em> like them then?"</p><p>"Scrambled."</p><p><em>"Oh,</em> like your personality. Lazy, and, well..." A fork pierces a yolk and the repulsive yellow that can't even be called cooked seeps onto the plate. "Tasteless."</p><p>"Oh my god. How the hell are <em>eggs</em> lazy?"</p><p>"Not the eggs. The method of preparing. <em>This</em> way requires time management and attention. An omelette asks for even more with the skill required to flip it properly and fold the cheese and <em>other</em> stuff in it so it's evened out. But <em>scrambled?</em> There's nothing. It's just an egg in a pan stirred carelessly like soup. <em>Anyone</em> can do it."</p><p>"Lazy... I prefer <em>'efficient.'"</em></p><p>"Agree to disagree I guess, even though <em>I'm right."</em></p><p>When his toast reaches him, Kyle chokes back a third laugh.</p><p>"That's right... you're too preoccupied to enjoy eggs properly, but you need<em> french toast</em>? There's seriously something wrong with you."</p><p>"Logic?"</p><p>"Have you ever tried making french toast from scratch?"</p><p>"No." It's too sweet. Maybe he should have ordered something else. Kyle's coffee would be too bitter for his liking, but he gets the idea that the opposing ends would cancel each other out. </p><p>Sort of like the two of them...</p><p>"Well it's actually the worst thing ever. Not because it's difficult... but because it's annoying."</p><p>"So are <em>you,</em> but I put up with it."</p><p>"Can I have a conversation without you constantly picking me apart?" A bite is taken from a slice of bacon, and although neither say anything, they can both mentally agree that it is too gristly and not done well enough to be any good. Forde can tell just by looking at it.</p><p>"Hey, <em>you</em> started it..."</p><p>"With a plead like that, I forget you're the older when it comes to you and Franz."</p><p>"I'm older than you, in case you've forgotten."</p><p>This one bothers him, unlike the other harmless jokes they have been tossing back and forth since they sat down.</p><p>"Hardly even four months..."</p><p>"Yeah... but where we stand now... I've been 18- an <em>adult,</em> since November. <em>You're still a kid</em> until next month. And kids, by law, are required to be with parental supervision out in public."</p><p>"Your facts are wrong. It's public settings like schools or trips that people under 18 need an adult. And THAT'S only if something were to happen in order to defend the helpless person. Right now, you don't need to be here."</p><p>"Well, <em>sorry</em> for not knowing. It doesn't really matter much to me anymore, <em>since I'm an adult</em>."</p><p>This is nice, this is what he needs. Kyle had told him to let his gaurd down, but he must have not seen that he HAD had it down this entire past week. Without it, Kyle was free to laugh at him without anticipating a reply. And honestly, Forde never wants to be so upset that he can't hold something over Kyle's head. He needs the social status. Not because he wants to be at the top, but because he doesn't want to be at the <em>bottom.</em> </p><p>The bottom is trampled on. When at the bottom, Kyle has a better viewpoint to see into his head.</p><p>And that's precisely what he needs to avoid.</p><p>"I'm still taller than you..."</p><p>He's still not over it?</p><p>"So? I couldn't tell well enough, but if <em>she's</em> not taller than him, Franz and his date are at <em>least</em> the same height."</p><p>Kyle flinches as a chord is struck. Forde had just kind of implied that their height difference, (although practically as non-existent as the minimal months apart from when they were born) is on the same level as two people two places over on their first date.</p><p>He wishes he could take it back. He hadn't meant it like that...</p><p>Why did Kyle have to read into everything?</p><p>He had just had the strength to build it back up, but a slip-up shows him that the imaginary gaurd is breaking in front of him again. </p><p>"Are you trying to say you see this as a date?"</p><p>And it's not breaking anymore. Now, it might as well have never existed in the first place.</p><p>
  <em>Why would he say that?!</em>
</p><p>With Forde at a loss for words, Kyle in front of him appears to be thinking the same thing. His food is mostly gone, and before him his elbows rest on the table. He can't see the entirety of his face, because he covers his mouth as one of his hands is holding the other clenched into a fist.</p><p>But he can at least see the thought process in his eyes. </p><p>'<em>Was I wrong</em>?' It looks like he's thinking...</p><p>And maybe it's Forde who is wrong in what he thinks Kyle is thinking. But, by now his barrier is obliterated and nothing more than fodder for people to step on and turn into powder.</p><p>At this point, he doesn't have much to lose. </p><p>'<em>Yes</em>.' </p><p>But he can't say it, because Kyle speaks up again before him.</p><p>"I mean, are you really THAT desperate to settle for someone like me just to make yourself look like you can score a date?" Kyle laughs, nervously.</p><p>The previous question was full of advantage and certainty, but this one looks like Kyle has retreated. A cover-up. A low-blow. He has lost all confidence. And Forde finds an opening at this.</p><p>"And are <em>you</em> really that desperate to pin it on me to hide the fact that you're the one who thought to say it in the first place?"</p><p>"I-I...well." Finally, his hands fall in front of him, and Forde gets a better view of the torment that's rolling on, over and over, on his face. "I only said it because I know <em>you</em> won't."</p><p>"If you see yourself as someone who is good at saying what's on their mind... Then could you do me a favor... I've noticed for awhile now that you're hiding something. That you've liked someone... and for quite some time, too. Could you... tell me... <em>who that person is?"</em></p><p>Kyle opens his mouth to answer, and the name is spoken behind a veil of his hand that returns one last time to hide emotion that, at this point, <em>doesn't really need to be kept hidden.</em></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>nothing i like more than making these idiots uno-reverse card each other back-to-back with their words ...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Give Yourself Away-- Epilouge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Franz's date is dropped off, and as they wait for her to get through the door to confirm that it's not locked, Forde turns around to ask him a question.</p><p>"How did it go?"</p><p>He doesn't need to ask because the conversation in the back of the car was much more tolerable than the pitiful ones attempted earlier on the drive there. Franz is in a good mood, but so is he and he kind of wants to share it.</p><p>"It went well. What about on your end?" </p><p>It's this question that Forde realizes how much conspiring against him must have gone on. Maybe Kyle was right, he is just a <em>tiny</em> bit jealous of Franz. For going behind his back and talking to Kyle about <em>Kyle's</em> problems more than his own like he initially expressed.</p><p>Trying to give Franz a look that says '<em>Everything went fine, but I'm not happy with you</em>.' He doesn't say anything more.</p><p>Kyle, in the passenger seat, is wearing one of those rare smiles that is expressed through joy and genuine happiness instead of his usual smiles that are only used to stab at other's egos. </p><p>He doesn't need to say anything more, because that smile tells him enough.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Summaries and Titles other than each chapter title is killing me to figure out for this...does the title make sense no but I have a headache and need to sleep untiI die</p></blockquote></div></div>
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